Chapter Fourteen: Blood for Blood
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NICOLE
The execution never happened.
By sunrise, Nadia had vanished into thin air, leaving behind an empty cell, escaping without a trace.
I told myself to let it go. Move past it despite what she had done because no wolf had died in weeks.
She was gone, and so was the threat.
At least, that’s what I told myself. Yet even as I repeated those words, trying to force them into my heart, my feet betrayed me. I found myself moving toward him, drawn by some invisible force. Nathan stood like a statue, his back to me, staring at his father’s freshly turned grave.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper.
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For a moment, I thought he hadn’t heard me. The stillness stretched between us, so taut it felt like it might snap. Then, finally, he spoke, his voice low and rough, as if dragged up from a place he had long buried.
“I waited for my mother to come back.”
The words caught me off guard, and I stood frozen, listening.
“For two years straight, I stood outside the territory gates every night, hoping she‘ d return. I wanted to be the first person she saw if she ever came back.” He scoffed bitterly, shaking his head. “But she never did. And still, that wasn’t enough for me. I stole my father’s phone and called her. Do you know what she said?” He turned slightly, his eyes dark and distant. “She said, ‘You‘ re the reason I left in the first place. I never wanted you, so don‘ t ever call me again.‘
I inhaled sharply, but he didn’t stop.
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Chapter Fourteen: Blood for Blood
“It took me years to understand that her problems went far beyond me but it didn’t matter. I told myself that all women were like that–incapable of staying, incapable of love.” He paused, his gaze returning to the grave. “Then my father brought Nadia home, and she filled the void my mother left and I really did love her as a brother should a sister.”
Just when I thought he was done, he
continued.
“I hated you when my father forced me to marry you. I hated you because you were a reminder of everything I didn’t want. But then, I let you in, and for a moment, I thought I could be happy. Until I saw those pictures.” He let out a bitter laugh. “I believed it because it was easier to believe you’d betray me than to believe I could be wrong. I destroyed the one thing that could’ve made me happy. And now,
I’ve
missed two years of my son’s life. I don’t even know how to begin to ask you to forgive me.”
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Chapter Fourteen: Blood for Blood
His words hit me like a blow, raw and unfiltered. In three years of marriage, he had never spoken about his mother. I swallowed hard, my voice trembling as I asked, “Is she alive?”
His expression hardened. “She’s dead to me.”
The finality in his tone sent a shiver down my spine.
Silence stretched between us again, but my thoughts were anything but quiet.
I wanted to scream at him for believing Nadia’s lies, for not giving me the benefit of the doubt, for not asking me a single question that could‘ ve saved us.
But instead, I found myself saying, “I don’t want you to ask for my forgiveness because honestly, I don’t think I can ever forgive you.
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He didn’t respond, so I kept going, the words spilling out before I could stop them.
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Chapter Fourteen: Blood for Blood
“Nadia is gone. I’m sure she won’t be foolish enough to try anything else, so this is over. Daniel is your son, and we’ll figure out a way to share custody, but beyond that, there’s nothing left between us. The truth doesn‘ t change what you did, and it never will.”
My wolf howled in protest, but I forced myself to turn away. I had barely taken a step when he called my name.
I stopped, but I didn’t look back.
“I will never stop trying to fix what I
broke,” he said, his voice heavy with a mix of determination and regret. “No matter
“No how long it takes.”
I turned to face him, meeting his gaze.
“The pieces are gone. You can’t fix what doesn’t exist anymore,” I paused for a second before whispering the words that felt final, “Goodbye, Nathan.”
As I walked away, only one thought filled my mind:
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It was over.
Or so I thought, until hours later, I found myself rooted to the spot, frozen in shock.
Gerald’s lifeless eyes stared back at me, unseeing, his body crumpled in a way that screamed violence. And as if to cement the horror, my gaze drifted to the words scrawled in blood across the ground:
Blood for Blood.
